Yay, it's Friday and I have an amazing photo shoot to wrap up this month's Wedding Vendor Challenges. Today's shoot comes to us from DBY Events and Red Letter Event Planning with stunning photography from Angela Swan. Wait until you see what the desserts are presented on and you are going to go CRAZY for the colors in the floral arrangement. It's so lush and completely GORGEOUS!!!!! Kasey of DBY Events writes the following . . .

Our Havana Night was inspired by the classic comedy “I Love Lucy” and its iconic heart emblem and the retro polka dot motif. We imagined that a popular local music club was converted from its regular hip dance environment to the hot and spicy ‘Club Babaloo’ for an intimate Valentine's Supper Club.

The retro color scheme played well into the oversized invitation with the left polka dotted border and the prominently featured heart inviting all couples to come celebrate the lover’s holiday at one of two seatings for dinner. Lucy and Desi would be right at home, where we captured their spirit and essence in the representation of a fun and flirty evening.

The décor and paper goods for the evening, both influenced by our vintage lounge venue and our Havana night theme, incorporate elements tropical and garden-inspired, luxurious and natural; perfectly befitting a night of retro romance.

We love the balance of the whimsical with the elegant in our table linens and florals. Using sequin overlays with soft satin underlayers, the Black ostrich plumes add softness, while the florals include silver succulents and bold protea bring out a wonderful texture and depth to our look. Dark feathers pull in the "club" feel, and our polka-dots are reflected in both the fun shapes of the hot pink anemone and the handcrafted wire work.

Mirrored mosaic chargers on the high boy tables with hand beaded napkin rings give each guest setting a touch of glamour, and beautifully reflect the candlelit dinner. The low booth settings incorporated the need for ice in the hot Havana nights and featured charger plates with large acrylic stone borders. All table settings include a place card for the couple, with a ‘his’ and ‘hers’ waiting to welcome the intimate couples to their seats.

The sweets table buffet was centered around the most romantic musical instrument, the piano at the club. Bringing in the whimsical polka dots design, the name cards bring the design elements full circle, and the amazing chocolates and decadent cakes were placed on vintage platters atop the baby grand so that guests could tickle their taste buds while tickling the ivories before dancing the night away…

Happy Thursday - today I have another wedding vendor challenge to share with you from Kristi of Dreamcicle Studios in Arizona. And, as a bonus, there's even a bride in this photo shoot. I am in love with her gown and veil. I will let now let Kristi explain the behind the scenes details . . .

It was an incredible early morning sunrise shoot at the plush Phoenix Country Club featuring the stunning and amazingly beautiful Zsa Zsa Gardea. We all arrived at 5am to get started to capture and create these magnificent photographs! I can't express our gratitude as we're so thankful for our vendor partners who gave their time and resources as we all came together to create these shots! Without their expertise, I can't image all of this coming together like it did. Special thanks to all of you, especially my new dear friend, Tuesday Morris, marketing manager for Suzanne's Bridal Boutique. Tuesday's dedication is beyond measure. Who else would have fought morning traffic when she made a special trip back to the boutique in Gilbert so she could provide our bride with just the perfect dress? And, wow.. that made all the difference in the world! As soon as the dress went on, her attitude changed and she knew she was exquisite and she walked with amazing confidence as she became the princess that all of us girls have dreamt of becoming!

Those black table linens and chair cover are just gorgeous!!!!

You can see how magical the sunrise was through the floor to ceiling windows in the ballroom at the Phoenix Country Club! This is an incredible venue any bride would love to have. Our bride was stunningly beautiful. The room sparkled off of the linen's on the table as well as from the beads on the bride's dress. The flowers were bright and beautiful. The champagne was inviting and the sun's glow brought warmth and hope for a gorgeous new day!

And, I just have to finish off this post with these amazingly fun shots of the bride, her gown and her AMAZING shoes!!!!! I never would have guessed they were under her gown. I love it when a bride has a fun pop of color in her attire.

Happy Wednesday. Today I have another lovely romantic photo shoot to share with you. Continuing with the Wedding Vendor Challenges, Lissahn of Enraptured Events joins us today with a beautiful table for two in front or a roaring fireplace, which she says was an important detail for her since it's cold outside. And, wait until you see her napkin fold - it's a heart shape!!! And, the beautiful calligraphy on the menus is by Distinctive Inscriptions Calligraphy along with photography by The Studio B Photography. Lissahn writes that she has been “itching” to do that particular napkin fold and this vendor challenge was the "prime opportunity". As Lissahn writes . . . "February is all about love and falling in love, so I wanted to ensure that the table represented that without being over bearing with flowers but just enough to add the touch of romance and elegance. I used the upside down wine glasses because wine is often a part of a great meal. Also, I wanted to make it where anyone could afford to put it together and many of us can get a dozen roses and a few wine glasses. With the colors being fuchsia and black, it made it easy to incorporate Valentine's Day but I didn’t want to do solid pink and black, so I used a damask pattern that added a little bit of brightness against the two dark colors."

And, I had to end with a close-up of the amazing heart napkin fold - don't you just love it? I also love the texture of the napkin, so fancy.

Happy Monday!!!! And, Happy Valentine's Week!!!! I have some amazing inspiration for you to celebrate the week of love and a GREAT BIG giveaway tomorrow - so let's get started. Today I'm continuing the Wedding Vendor Challenges with a photo shoot for an intimate dinner for 2 from Shafonne of Making Your Event Special and Pretty Pear Bride. This shoot is just perfect as not only is it affordable to re-create, but it's so sweet and fun. There was a black damask wrapped gift with a contrasting pink ribbon at each place setting, one for him and one for her {don't you love the texture on the wrapping paper?}. The centerpiece was a black chalkboard with hot pink hearts that had "I love U" written on it - so cute.

For the dessert table, the black damask wrapping paper was added to the top of the linen and martini glasses with desserts were added to the table. The hot pink words that spelled out "KISS" were a great accent to bring in the hot pink to the black paper. One of my favorite features is the presentation of the cupakes that were displayed in tea cups and adorned with hot pink rhinestones. Pink confetti words spelling, 'Kiss, Love and XOXO were scattered on the table too.

Where did the past month go? They seem to be flying by, but I'm really excited to share with you this months round of Wedding Vendor Challenges. It's been one year this month since I started the challenges and I have an amazing collection of photo shoots to share with you starting today thru next Friday with a special Valentine's Day giveaway on Tuesday{you won't want to miss this one, there will be 5 winners}. The color palette this month was fuchsia and black and our first challenge comes to us from Madeline's Weddings and Events and Michelle Zerr Photography in Canada. The theme was an intimate dinner for two and I love how Madeline interpreted that theme by putting together a proposal. They had a 2 person table set up and the linens consisted of fuchsia satin floor length linens, a fuchsia organza overlay, a black satin table runner, black satin chair covers and matching black satin napkins. So elegant and romantic . . .

A “With This Ring” card was created that rested at the bride’s place setting and the engagement ring was placed on top of a rock candy swizzle stick. So cute and sweet!!!

The beautiful stationery was bright, fun and flirty.! The place cards are super cute and read “the lovely bride” & “the happy groom”! And, as is customary with Madeline's stationery, there was matching menus and the stationery carried over into the dessert table as well.

The centerpiece was simple and was comprised of white chrysanthemums floating in water. Madeline and her team surrounded the cylinder vases with votive candles.

The entire set-up was in a canopy, so the ‘couple’ could have a secluded and closed off area for their special evening. Fuchsia panels of fabric and fuchsia spotlighting was included too.

The dessert table was fabulous and made use of a black pintuck linen with a fuchsia satin table runner. And, there was everything from mini brownies, cookies, strawberry marshmallows and of course cinnamon hearts for the Valentine's spread.

Thank you so much Madeline and Michelle for an amazing shoot to start off our February Wedding Vendor Challenges with. I'll be back on Monday with more . . .